advice from an older woman

Another news bulletin - this morning it was about stress and a recent study showing that women currently suffer a great deal more than men from stress, not a joking matter, and I don't mean to take it lightly, but one bit did strike me as particularly interesting.  It seems that these days women worry about housework about 30% more than men do.  That's what they said.
As someone who stopped worrying about house work years ago, I feel singularly qualified to offer some advice in this area.
The first thing to accept about housework is that it is exceedingly patient, if it doesn't get done one day, it will still be there the next.
Secondly, it's very satisfying to make lists and to mark things off as you get them done.  The trick is to intersperse lots of little jobs with the big ones, for instance on my list for today 'mop the floors' is sandwiched between 'bring in the mail' and 'write my blog'. Now I can look at my list at the end of the day with satisfaction noting that I've scratched off more things on my list than are left.
Trust me, this really lessens stress.

Girls' night out

No blog last night because I was out with a couple of girlfriends until the wee hours.  Kudos to my friend Kay, who, from time to time, drags me out of my comfort zone.  Usually with very good results.  If it weren't for Kay I never would have discovered the excellent entertainment available at Come 2 Go (or C2G), most notably amazing ukulele player Jake Shimabakuru and the group Guggenheim Grotto.
Last night we went to the outdoor entertainment at the Botanical Gardens downtown.  The acts, "Unlikely Alibi" and "Deals Gone Bad" were lively and interesting although I beg to differ with the MC who claimed that the lead singer in "Deals..." had the best voice in northern Indiana.  Having seen "Les Mis.." at the Civic two weeks ago, I know there are some much better voices right here in Fort Wayne.  But it was a fun evening sitting outside, listening to music, feeling the warm breezes blowing, enjoying my semi-annual beer, and ending the evening at Applebees for a late night snack.
Thanks Kay.

Amazing factoids

I listen to local and national news shows as I'm getting ready for work in the mornings and over the last few mornings I've heard some fascinating health "facts":  1. your Body Mass Index isn't the best indicator of obesity.  Your waist measurement is a better indicator.  to be healthy a woman should have a waist measurement under 35 inches and men under 40 inches.  happy to say I passed that test.
2. The idea of left brain or right brain dominance isn't really very accurate.  Everybody uses both sides of their brains - that explains a lot.
3. And this is my favorite -drinking cocoa or eating chocolate in the morning can help improve brain power, especially in children and older people.  Yes!! I've always been convinced that chocolate is one of the basic food groups.  No information yet on how this will impact #1.

I'm feeling much better now

Last night I blogged, in a bit of a snit, about something that makes me angry - anonymous criticism, but this morning I realized how petty I was being.  My morning devotion focused on Psalm 103:8 "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love."  Well, that was a slap in the face.  Then the Action Step that comes with each devotion directed me to "Be aware of what sparks anger in you, and try to remember God's steadfast love."  So, I'm duly humbled and over it now.

Allow me to vent...

I am generally a mild mannered person.  I venture to say most of my friends think I am nice and fairly easy-going.  But a few things do tend to make me angry and one of them is anonymous criticism.  If you've spotted an error in something I've published, please tell me, I can take it.  I realized long ago that I am not perfect.  But tell me to my face, or at least sign your name to the note.
Today at work I received an envelope in the mail addressed to THE PROOFREADER followed by the church address, all in large printed caps.  When I opened the envelope I found one half of a page cut from the newsletter we mailed out last week with one word circled and the "correct" spelling written in the margin. Nothing else, no note, no name, certainly no return address on the envelope.  In case you care, the word was 'flyers' - my spelling.  My anonymous critic wrote it as 'fliers'.  My dictionary shows both spellings as correct, with neither preferred.
After I calmed down, I decided that it was actually pretty exciting that she/he found only one error in a sixteen page, densely written newsletter.
I feel much better now.

No!!! It's too soon...

As a post script to a committee related e-mail that I received earlier today, a friend wrote "I started my Christmas shopping this weekend."  Really, it's 90% out, it's August, I'm just beginning to get use to seeing school buses on the road. Christmas shopping???  Actually, I have always admired people who do their Christmas shopping early.  I don't emulate them, but I do admire them.  However, I do have a system that works for me. When my friend Rosie tells me that she has finished her shopping, usually about mid-October, I know it's time to get started.

learning a really foreign language

I've traveled in several European countries without feeling a strong compulsion to learn the various languages.  I think it's because those languages are Latin based, like English and written in the same alphabet as English.  This gives me the illusion, I think, that I can understand a little of these languages. I can't, of course, but I'm comfortable with the illusion.
But next year I'm traveling to South Korea, and that language seems so different that I feel that I need to learn a little of it before I go.  I have 52 weeks and my goal is to learn a phrase a week.   Spoken, not written.  Although I love to see the Korean language written out I can't delude myself into thinking I could ever master that.
So far I have learned An Young Ha Sai Yo?  How are you?; Gwen Chen Ah Yo.  You're welcome or it;s ok; and I'm working on Kham Sa Ham Nee Da,  Thank you.  Sadly, when I say these phrases they don't sound the same as when our Korean pastor says them.  Maybe I'll sound better in 52 weeks.

Paid labor

My oldest granddaughter, age 11, has become very interested in money.  She was explaining to me all about credit and debit cards the other day, and now she is trying to earn money to buy an i-pod.  She explained to me that by only saving her allowance ($5 a week) she would have enough to buy her i-pod by January of 2015, so, needless to say she's trying to earn some more money so she can buy it sooner.  I love to encourage initiative, especially if I get some labor out of the deal, so today we spent a lovely few hours together trimming bushes and hauling many loads of branches down the hill to the brush pile.  I did most of the trimming and she did most of the hauling and that was a tremendous help to me.  I paid, she trudged willingly up and down the hill and we had fun.  A true win win situation.

Game night

I enjoy playing games, on my computer, on my Nexus, on paper (I'm a real Sudoko fan), but what I enjoy most is a real live game with other people.  This evening my daughter and her kids spent some time here and we played Mexican Train.  We had a lot of fun and it made me remember game playing when I was a child - my parents were fierce Euchre players and my cousins and brother and I engaged in some marathon Monoply games'  As our children were growing up my husband and I played lots of games with them, starting with Candyland (which I never won) and carrying on through the years.
A few months ago I attended the funeral of a cousin and each of his children, as they spoke at the service, remembered the fun they had had playing games as a family.
I hope my kids and grandkids have the same good memories.

A week well spent

My job is only part time.  I work about 25 hours a week at what I have described to friends as the perfect retirement job.  I am the communication editor for First Presbyterian Church and that involves putting together bulletins, brochures, booklets, anything in print that committees, pastors and church groups need.
This week,and the two before, have been unusually busy with lots of things needing to be finished up before the fall schedule begins.  Today as I drove away after work it was with the happy knowledge that everything was done that needed to be done, and I even got a jump start on next week.  And, since I don't work on Fridays, everything looks lovely to me right now.
I had planned to work outside tomorrow trimming bushes and pulling weeds, but just a little bit ago and girlfriend called and we are meeting for lunch tomorrow, so no time for weeding and whacking.  This week just keeps getting better and better.

great scenes I have seen #1

Over the years, though I didn't always have a camera at hand, there are certain scenes I have seen that are indelibly lodged in my memory, thank goodness.
One of my favorites happened when my daughter ws in kindergarten,  As I watched her get off the bus one sunny spring day and start down the driveway towad our house, bouncing along, strawberry blond hair glowing in the light, I was astonished to see a cloud of yellow butterflies that had been sunning on the driveway rise up in a swirling cloud around her.  it was breathtakingly beautiful and over in an instant, but what a glorious instant it was.

my very own Japanese painting

When I walk into my living room early on these warm and humid summer mornings, just as the sun is rising, I am greeted by a wonderful view through my living room window.  Mist lies low in the field across the road from my house, a field that used to be cultivated but now has grown up into scrubby trees and bushes. Larger trees in the distance create a rough edged back drop and the mist paints the scene in grey tones.  The sun behind the clouds sheds a  soft glow, and the whole scene, framed by my two pear trees, looks like a Japanese painting..

High tech, low tech

A couple of days ago I was metaphorically patting my self on the back for accomplishing something high tech (for me) but today I was reminded that some low tech items and actions are also pretty special.  I wound the clock that hangs on my dining room wall.  It was a Christmas present from my husband about 40 years ago when we had moved into a very traditional center entry colonial and had decided that we needed some more traditional looking furnishings. With regular winding it has faithfully.ticked away the minutes of our lives and chimed the hours and half hours. It's not a loud clock, but at night, when it's very quiet, I can hear it ticking, even in my bedroom.
My daughter told me that when she was deployed in Iraq the second time she would fall asleep some nights imagining that she could hear the clock ticking.  Now she has a wind up clock in her home. Hooray for low tech.

I want to learn Korean

Today I attended the Korean Language Service at First Pres. I sat beside a friend who is fluent in Korean and English and she quietly translated for me.  She also provided me with sermon notes in English and all in all it was a very enjoyable experience.  The music is always wonderful.  However it made me realize that next year, when I plan to take a trip to South Korea, I will want to understand at least some of what is being said around me, so I need to start studying Korean.
I was thinking about phrases I might need to know - "Help, I'm lost, where is my hotel?"  "My name is..", "point me to the shopping area." and possibly most important "Where is the ladies' room?"  I'd better get started now!

Eureka!

I find that I am inordinately pleased with my self when I accomplish what for others are probably simple tasks.  For the last seven years, since my husband died, I've been faced with various projects that I would not have undertaken if I still lived with a man.  One of my all time favorites was installing a new mail box.  I used power tools and everything.  It stood straight and tall for a couple of years until it got demolished by a snow plow.  Then I had the fun of installing another one.  Nice, but not as satisfying as the first time.
This evening I accomplished another first (for me).  I installed a new dvd player, attached it to the TV, connected it to the internet, and right now am enjoying watching one of my favorite series on Netflix.  Yeah me!!  And all of this probably only took six times as long as if I had asked my 12 year old grandson to do it.

now that's incredible

A couple of months ago I heard a sincere young lady on TV news show announce that a new medical breakthrough offered people a 20% chance of not dying.  Really?  To give her credit, she did come back, after the commercial break and explained that she meant to say 20% chance of not dying from a particular disease.
This morning, a sincere young announcer (on the same news show - I like hopeful news) announced that yet another medical breakthrough now assures a 50% lower chance of dying!  Really????  So far no effort to correct that statement so I'm starting to get my hopes up....

It's only a small disability

I am a dyslexic typist.  I ahve no problem reading and I can spell fairly well, but when I type, my fingers tend to flip the order of letters in a word.  This wouldn't be a big problem except my entire job consists of typing, or is the term keyboarding these days?  Actually I spend half of each day typing and the other half correcting my errors.  Thanks goodness for the backspace button, one of life's truly great inventions.  I am deliberately leaving this blog unproofed so you can see waht I mean. Actually this looks like one of my better jobs.

New Glasses

I picked up my new pair of glasses today and so far they are doing just what I needed, helping me see a little more clearly in the distance and making it easier to read small print.  That's nice, but where's the excitement?
I got my first pair of glasses when I was seven years old, and they were wonderful.  I was sure, with their squarish brown plastic frames, they made me look at least ten.  61 years later, my new glasses have squarish brown plastic frames - what goes around, comes around.  Sadly they don't make me look ten.

Was that a compliment?

Have you ever received a compliment that wasn't quite??
Recently someone said to me "Your makeup looks just perfect today." which left me wondering how it usually looks.
A beautician said "You sure don't look 68."  How old do I look?  80? 60? If 60, is that so much better than 68?
And recently, from my grandson "Your blog sounds just like you, Nana."  Is that a good thing?
Ah well, as my wise mother taught me, "When in doubt, just smile and say 'thank you'."

Shared memories

The two grandchildren who slept over at my house last night are the two who lived with me, with their mom, after her divorce. They lived here for over two years so it's not too surprising that when they visit here, a certain amount of reminiscing takes place.  Last night it took a different, fun turn.  They started pulling out lots of old story books, which I used to read to them, and we all took turns reading to each other.  What a joy to share sweet memories and to appreciate what good readers they have become.  They are such a blessing to me.

We're having a sleepover

We're having a sleepover tonight, my grandson (12) and granddaughter (10) and I.
we've eaten pizza and played Yahtzee and Uno and other games.  Now we're goofing off and delaying going to bed.
Yeah!!! We ate lots of cookies too.
And now we're reading books back and forth.
It's being a great sleepover.

Opera or Musical?

Just got home from seeing a performance of Le Miz at the Civic Theater here in Fort Wayne.  It was a wonderful performance with many excellent voices.  They are sold out for this weekend but if you get a chance to see it next weekend, I highly recommend it.
An interesting question came up though, in the discussion on the way home, "Why is it called a musical and not an opera?"  My first guess was that it's because it's in English, but when I was in Milan a few years ago I saw the opera "The Rake's Progress" and it was in English, so that's not the answer.
My friend Al suggested that perhaps it's because if they called it an opera no one would come.

Now That's Entertainment!

My youngest granddaughter joined the Fort Wayne Children's Choir this year and just completed a week of music camp.  This evening we enjoyed the fruits of hers and many other children's labors during a wonderful concert.  After a week's practice their voices were amazing.  We heard beautiful familiar tunes like  "The Sound of Music", "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" and "The Impossible Dream".,
But a whole different level of entertainment was reached on the car ride home as she sang a little ditty she had learned during break times.  It went like this:

I know a house in New Orleans
that's forty stories high,
and every room I went in to
was full of apple pie.

And the beauty of this song is that you can substitute limitless types of pie and sing it over and over and over again, almost all the way home.

Now that's entertainment!

Two amazing bits of information

I learned two fascinating new things today.
This morning, I heard someone being interviewed on a morning news show, while I was getting ready for work.  He said that chocolate in the morning, specifically hot chocolate or dark chocolate helps older people think better.  It stimulates brain activity.  Yes!  I've always suspected that chocolate should be considered one of the basic food groups.
This afternoon, while I was having a manicure, my nail tech showed me how you can use sugar to clean up a nail polish spill on a hard surface.  She showed me on ceramic tile so I don't know how it would react on other surfaces.  She spilled a few drops of bright red polish on the floor, then sprinkled little piles of sugar on each drop, rubbed gently,and hey presto, the polish was absorbed by the sugar in little clay like balls and then she just swept it all up with a broom.
I love a day when I can learn two new things.

Sunrise Serenade

On these wonderful cool summer nights I am able to sleep with my bedroom window open and consequently I am sung awake each morning at sunrise by a bird in the apple tree outside my window.  I suspect it's just a little sparrow but he has the attitude of the 'cock of the walk'.  I think he's sure that he is calling the sun up because as soon as it's up he stops singing - his job is done.
His song goes like this:
Cheeerrr (long and slow) then weeet, weeet, weeet, weeet, weeet, weeet, weeet  ( 7 very quickly).
This phrase gets repeated several times, then he varies the routine - sometimes one cheeerrr and one weeet, then a joyful series of cheeerrr's.  Then if the sun's not quite up yet, he runs through the whole program again.
Sing on little bird!

The competition was fierce

Well, I showed up for the audition this evening, for a part, any part, in an excellent play titled Mrs. Packard, and discovered that at least 30 others ladies had the same idea.  It's not often that a wonderful play comes along that has roles for several women ages 40 to 70.  I have seen and acted with many of the ladies who tried out and they are excellent.  If I get a part in this play, I will be honored.  If I don't, I will totally understand.  It will probably be several days before we know.

Playing and Acting

When I was a child I loved to create stories or scenes and act them out with my brother and the neighbor boy.  We lived on a 5-acre plot in the country, originally part of an 80 acre farm.  The places we played included an old corn crib, which became a western town, a large pointed rock which we named 'ship rock' and 'sailed' through the wheat field, a sloped roof chicken coop, low enough that we could jump off, playing Super Man, the huge cardboard boxes in which chicken litter was delivered (they made amazing houses) and an orchard full of old apple trees, low branched and easy to climb, where we Indians hid to attack passing cowboys.  We also had a woods, a creek and corn field mazes through which to wander.
Alas, at 68, I'm a little too old to climb trees and play cowboys and Indians.  However, I can, sometimes, still act out a scene.
I am auditioning for a play tomorrow evening, and while I am really hoping to get a part, even if I don't, I will have had the fun of acting out some scenes and playing several different characters.
I love to play.

A question about music

I've noticed something that I find interesting.  It seems that when I check the date of composition of hymns that we sing in church that I find particularly singable, many of them seem to have been written in the mid-1800's.
Here are some examples:
Spirit of God Descend Upon My Heart - 1859
Jesus Loves Me - 1859
Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine - 1873
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear -1849
What a Friend We Have in Jesus - 1855
Come Ye Thankful People Come - 1844
God be With You Till We Meet Again - 1880
How Great Thou Art - 1885
You get the idea.  These are all by different composers.  I wonder what was going on in music during those years that produced such wonderful singable hymns?

If you have some insight about this (or just a good guess) I would appreciate hearing from you.

To comment on this blog, click on the title; this will show you only this blog and will open up a comment box.  Hope to hear from someone about this.  Thanks

We're having a sleep over

Two of my granddaughters are staying overnight with me tonight and we've had lots of fun.  They are happily at an age now (11 and 9) to be able to play games well and to still enjoy playing games with me. I'm going to enjoy that happy combination as long as it lasts. This evening we played two versions of Uno, Yatzee, Go Fish, Set, The Lorax (a card game) and Charades.  We all had our turns winning and loosing and no one got upset.  Life is good.

things that make me curious

Things that have made me curious today include:
Why does my cat suddenly jump up and chase an invisbility all around the house?
Why does washing windows suddenly make want to paint my bedroom?
Why, now that I'm seriously recycling, does it seem that 9/10ths of what I throw away goes in the recycle bin? (A lot of it on the way in from the mail box.)
What really needs to be shredded to avoid identity theft?
Why does my grandson want a picture of a golden potato?

Where I'm at in my life

I came across a paragraph as I was reading today that so perfectly described where  I feel I'm at in my life these days that I wanted to share it.

It's from a book by Joan Chittister called In Search of Belief  which I highly recommend.

"The finality of death rises as stumbling block to many.  But it is difficult as life goes on not to see it as grace gone wild.  If nothing ever ended, nothing new could ever begin.  The losses that we thought would surely kill us are the losses that reorient our lives.  When we loose something that has consumed us, we discover aspects of life we long ago ceased to realize we even had.  "I'll never marry again," the woman said to me. "The marriage I had was wonderful, but now I have other things I want to do in life."